Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Vote GR for Beer City USA

Update: Voting is closed; Grand Rapids prevails.

By Chris Siciliano

Voting begins today in the Charlie Papazian-run American Idol-like "Beer City USA", a contest in which loyal beer fans from across the country are asked to choose, solely on the basis of suds, the one city in our great nation that dominates the rest.

This year Grand Rapids joins 30 other contenders on a ballot which includes perennial beer powerhouses such as Portland and San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago. There's no question GR deserves recognition, but do we deserve to win? I contend we do, and here's a list of the reasons why.

The fact that GR is in close geographical proximity to an array of a pretty incredible West Michigan breweries including Bells, New Holland, The Walldorff, Dark Horse, Arcadia Brewing, Odd Side, Old Boys, Saugatuck Brewing Co., Vander Mill, Jamesport, Crankers, Mt. Pleasant Brewing Co. and so on.